Source : ABC NEWS
Faced with the most tragic circumstances, the Eagles played with a level of spirit not seen so far this season. A bold coaching ploy unlocked Clayton Oliver and sparked Melbourne’s season, while Essendon’s defensive mettle failed a major test against the Bulldogs.
Here’s what we learned from Round 10 of the AFL season.
The Eagles rise in style for a huge, but sad occasion
The entire AFL community was plunged into sadness on Saturday after the death of Adam Selwood just months after his twin brother Troy took his own life.
Between playing, mentoring and coaching in the league, there is barely a corner of the league untouched by the four Selwood brothers, including out west, where Adam played 187 games and won a premiership in 2006 with the Eagles.
West Coast and St Kilda players pause for an on-field tribute to Adam Selwood. (Getty Images: Paul Kane)
A pre-match tribute video before Sunday’s game against St Kilda marked a sombre occasion at Perth Stadium, with anguish visible on faces across the cavernous arena, particularly that of Selwood’s former teammate Jamie Cripps.
What ensued was an inspirational performance from the first siren to the last from the Eagles; the kind of outing on which Selwood built his career.
Matches in highly emotional environments usually go one of two ways: it either has a galvanising effect on the team, or can highlight how minor football feels in the grand scheme of things.
For whatever reason, the Eagles turned in their best performance under Andrew McQualter, who would be thrilled by a true team effort.
Brady Hough was the leading ball-winner on the ground with 24 touches, while the Eagles had 11 different goal-kickers.
After a choppy start to his season, Harley Reid was influential in the Eagles getting the lead, kicking two goals and taking a towering mark over skipper Oscar Allen, who he then helped up.
As the Saints threatened to steal it early in the fourth quarter, West Coast’s veterans stood up. Tim Kelly, Jack Graham and Liam Baker were all influential, while Liam Ryan put the game to bed with two goals in as many minutes.
One win doesn’t immediately change West Coast’s fortunes. The Eagles will suffer many more losses through the course of this season, but if they can get impactful performances across the park more regularly, the wins won’t be so few and far between.
Tagging role activates Oliver, sparks Demons
After stumbling out to an 0-5 start, Melbourne’s finals hopes are alive after four wins in its last five outings.
The Demons faded in the final quarter last week against Hawthorn, but showed tremendous grit to overturn a three-quarter-time deficit against the Brisbane Lions in Brisbane to sit 4-6 and just a game outside the top eight.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin was roundly criticised for playing Clayton Oliver as a tagger last week (even though he held his opponent Jai Newcombe to just 19 disposals), and Goodwin responded to the criticism by using Oliver the same way again.
For some reason, the majority of AFL teams still refuse to use taggers, even though the use of one seems extremely beneficial on most occasions. Coaches prefer to back their midfield unit to outgun opposing midfield units, suggesting the deployment of a specialist tagger is basically an admission of your midfield group being weaker than your opponent’s.
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Oliver didn’t shut Neale out by tagging him — the Lions star still managed to pick up 30 disposals and six clearances — but playing the role of Neale’s shadow seemed to remind Oliver that he is a prolific clearance player himself.
This is one of the benefits of following around a prolific midfielder: you, too, get to be around the ball a whole lot. Oliver was a major beneficiary of this, picking up seven clearances, his equal-highest in a game since Round 4.
Oliver brought the heat, recording a season-high 36 pressure acts against the Lions, but also proved damaging going the other way, recording season-highs in metres gained (364) and inside 50s (five).
A slow start means Melbourne needs a lot to go right to make the eight. Getting the clearance machine version of Oliver back will go a long way to helping them achieve their goal.
Essendon’s defence is shown up by red-hot Bulldogs
Saturday night’s clash against the Western Bulldogs had all the makings of a big litmus test for Essendon, who had come into the game having strung a pretty good month together.
What ensued was a reminder to the Bombers that there were still levels to go before they could mix it with some of the big boys in the league.
The Bombers’ energy and effort were good in the opening minutes, but once the Bulldogs kicked their first goal, the floodgates opened.
Essendon had been one of the best defensive teams in the league in the last month by virtue of playing keepings off. The real test was always going to come without the ball, and the Dons were without the ball for a lot of the 91-point loss to the Dogs.
Brad Scott’s team ranks second in the league in disposals per game and third in marks per game. When they’ve got the ball, the Bombers slowly chip the ball around laterally before a better option opens up down the ground.
Bulldogs halfback Bailey Dale racked up a club record 49 disposals as the vaunted Essendon defence failed to stand up in one of its biggest tests. (Getty Images: Michael Willson)
Against the lesser teams in the league, where discipline is an issue, this is a strategy that works because eventually someone switches off and causes a breakdown in the defensive zone, allowing the Bombers to chip their way through.
That didn’t work against the Bulldogs. At one point in the second quarter, the Bulldogs had 36 disposals in their forward half of the ground for the quarter compared to the Bombers’ zero in the same metric. It was like dying a slow death for the Bombers.
Essendon is right in wanting to build a good defensive system — you don’t win finals without being able to defend — but sometimes attack is the best form of defence, and the Bombers would be well-served to move the ball forward a little more rapidly.
It is never a good result to lose by 91 points, but this might be one of those results that serves the Bombers well in the long run.
The club has consistently preached a message of patience under Scott’s tenure, now into its third year, and results like these show there are still several major steps that need to be made.
